'They ditched 25-yr-old friend, will dump Ajit also'

News Network
November 25, 2019

Mumbai, Nov 25: The Shiv Sena on Monday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, saying those who did not respect their 25-year-long friendship with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party will one day dump NCP leader Ajit Pawar as well.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' also targeted Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, saying his rebellion has failed and it will be proved in the next few days.

Devendra Fadnavis took oath as chief minister like a "thief on the run", it said in sarcastic remarks.

"It is height of cheating as the governor accepted a letter of support submitted by Ajit Pawar which he had stolen from his party office. We don't want to insult this institution by calling it 'shamelessness'," the Sena said.

Fadnavis and his followers, who earlier wanted to put Ajit Pawar behind bars, are now chanting slogans in support of the chief minister and his deputy for new government formation, it noted.

In a dramatic turn of events, Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were sworn in as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at 8 am on Saturday at a hush hush ceremony in Raj Bhavan here, leading to the lifting of the President's rule in the state.

The BJP was propped up by NCP's Ajit Pawar who revolted against his party headed by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the last month's Assembly polls in an alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively.

The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief minister's post.

The NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats respectively.

"The people who did not respect the 25-year-long friendship with the Shiv Sena will one day throw away Ajit Pawar as well," the Marathi daily said, alleging that the BJP lured the NCP leader and both cheated the entire state.

"Those who think power is above all, are in their last lap. The people of the state need to just wait for some time (to see it)," the Sena said.

The BJP's "art of deceiving and culture of brokering" has led Maharashtra into this political instability, it said.

"First they lost a friend like the Shiv Sena and now they are committing crime like a seasoned criminal," the publication said in stinging remarks.

The BJP has done away with its principles and morality and decided to stoop low to retain power in Maharashtra. In the given situation, it is impossible for the BJP to prove majority in the state Assembly, the Sena said.

"It is like milking a bull," it added.

In the 288-member House, the BJP will have to prove support of 145 MLAs to remain in power.

"The entire state is ridiculing the BJP. The party otherwise likes to take a high moral ground, but it has been unmasked now. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be uncomfortable with such backlash," the Shiv Sena said.

If some people feel they can do whatever they want with the help of power, investigation agencies and lot of black money, then it is an insult of Chhatrapati Shivaji's Maharashtra, it said.

The BJP (Fadnavis) rushed and took the oath along with Ajit Pawar, when it learnt that talks of the Sena-NCP-Congress combine on government formation were nearing conclusion.

"It is like blackening the tradition of Maharashtra politics," remarked the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.

The BJP should no longer indulge in hypocrisy of observing the imposition of Emergency by Indira Gandhi as a 'black day', as it has more frequently misused the office of President and Governor for its own political gain, the Sena charged.

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Agencies
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: India on Thursday rejected a US government report that voiced concerns over alleged attacks and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities in the country.

"Our principled position remains that we see no locus standi for a foreign entity to pronounce on the state of our citizens' constitutionally protected rights," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

He was replying to a question on the report at an online media briefing.

Mandated by the US Congress, the '2019 International Religious Freedom Report' that documents major instances of violation of religious freedom across the world was released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday.

"India's vibrant democratic traditions and practices are evident to the world. The people and government of India are proud of our country's democratic traditions," the spokesperson said.

"We have a robust public discourse in India and constitutionally mandated institutions that guarantee protection of religious freedom and rule of law," he added.

The India section of the report said that US government officials underscored the importance of respecting religious freedom and promoting tolerance and mutual respect throughout the year with the ruling and opposition parties, civil society and religious freedom activists, and religious leaders belonging to various faith communities.

The report referred to the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August and the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Parliament in December as major highlights for India last year.

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News Network
January 22,2020

Jan 22: India's ranking in the latest global Democracy Index has dropped 10 places to the 51st spot out of 167 owing to violent protests and threats to civil liberties challenging freedoms across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been criticized by rights groups and western governments after shutting off the internet and mobile phone networks and detaining opposition politicians in Kashmir.

Modi’s government has also responded harshly to ongoing protests against a controversial, religion-based citizenship law. Muslims have said their neighborhoods have been targeted, while the central government has attempted to ban protests and urged TV news channels not to broadcast “anti-national” content. Some leaders in Modi’s ruling party called for “revenge” against protesters. India’s score in 2019 was its worst ranking since the EIU’s records began in 2006, and has fallen gradually since Modi was elected in 2014.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Democracy Index, which provides an annual comparative analysis of political systems across 165 countries and two territories, said the past year was the bleakest for democracies since the research firm began compiling the list in 2006.

“The 2019 result is even worse than that recorded in 2010, in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis,” the research group said in releasing the report on Wednesday.

The average global score slipped to 5.44 out of a possible 10 -- from 5.48 in 2018 -- driven mainly by “sharp regressions” in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. Apart from coup-prone Thailand, which improved its score after holding an election last year, there were also notable declines in Asia after a tumultuous period of protests and new measures restricting freedom across the region’s democracies.

Asia Declines

Hong Kong, meanwhile, fell three places to rank 75th out of 167 as more than seven months of violent and disruptive protests rocked the Asian financial hub. An aggressive police response early in the unrest, when protests were mostly peaceful, led to a “marked decline in confidence in government -- the main factor behind the decline in the territory’s score in our 2019 index,” the group said.

In Singapore, which ranked alongside Hong Kong at 75th, a new “fake news” law led to a deteriorating score on civil liberties.

“The government claims that the law was enacted simply to prevent the dissemination of false news, but it threatens freedom of expression in Singapore, as it can be used to curtail political debate and silence critics of the government,” EIU analysts said.

China’s score fell to just 2.26 in the EIU’s ranking, placing it near the bottom of the list at 153, as discrimination against minorities, repression and surveillance of the population intensified. Still, in China “the majority of the population is unconvinced that democracy would benefit the economy, and support for democratic ideals is absent,” the EIU said.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, Apr 5: Joining efforts to fight COVID-19, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has designed a full-body disinfection chamber and a special face protection mask for healthcare professionals, officials said.

The special chamber called 'PSE' has been designed by Vehicle Research Development Establishment (VRDE), Ahmednagar, a DRDO Laboratory.

The walk through enclosure is designed for personnel decontamination, one person at a time. It is a portable system equipped with sanitiser and soap dispenser, officials said.

The decontamination is started using a foot pedal at the entry. On entering the chamber, electrically-operated pump creates a disinfectant mist of hypo sodium chloride for disinfecting, the DRDO said in a statement.

The mist spray is calibrated for an operation of 25 seconds and stops automatically indicating completion of operation. As per procedure, personnel undergoing disinfection will need to keep their eyes closed while inside the chamber, it said.

The system consists of roof mounted and bottom tanks with a total of 700 litres capacity. Approximately 650 personnel can pass through the chamber for disinfection until the refill is required, the DRDO said.

The system has see-through glass panels on side walls for monitoring purpose and is fitted with lights for illumination during night-time operations, it added.

This system can be used for disinfection of personnel at the areas of controlled ingress and egress such as entry and exit to hospitals, malls, office buildings and critical installations, officials said.

Also, Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh, have developed face protection mask for healthcare professionals handling COVID-19 patients, the DRDO added.

Its light weight construction makes it convenient for comfortable wear for long duration. This design uses commonly available A4 size Over-Head Projection (OHP) film for face protection, it said.

One thousand face shields are being produced daily in TBRL and provided to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, it said.

Similarly, 100 are produced at RCI and these have been handed over to Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Hyderabad. A demand of 10,000 shields has been received from PGIMER and ESIC hospitals based on successful user trials, the DRDO added.

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